I'm giving this place 3 stars only because I'm a huuuuge fan of their super-smooth (yet not overbearing) Sweet Melon hookah. Come here on a weekend evening during prime-time and its $10 PER PERSON on one hookah!!! Insanity! I went last night, a Saturday, and the back room was chock-full of drunk high schoolers. I don't think the staff cares much if minors drink on the BYOB policy, because I KNOW I saw a kid (maybe 15, if that) chugging Coronas. The front room is mostly older men in a more lavishly furnished sitting room. It has, for some reason, always given me a creepy vibe. I always prefer the back room with the disco ball, strobe lights, TVs, and loud music. It can get very "Excalibur" in here, be warned. The female manager is WAAAAY overbearing, pushy, and tries too hard to get tipped. The service is effing slow. 3 stars for great Melon hookah smoke, being allowed to smoke cigarettes, and the extraordinary tea. read more

I stopped by after midnight in hopes the kitchen might still be open and ta-da. . . . . . . it was. The girl who took my order was so sweet, and the food was unbelievably great I ordered chicken which came with rice and a salad I also ordered a small hummus which came with pita bread however the hummus should be shared with a friend because it's a lot, they also included a generous amount of two sauces one of which was garlic flavored and extremely yummy I never had it before but I will be requesting it on my next purchase. I highly recommend this place and have to come back to try some hookah with friends or a perfect date night, it looks like a very entertaining environment with Arabic music playing and overall gives you the vibe like being in a foreign place. I look forward to returning. read more

Ali Baba Cafe & Restaurant - Even to go they made it look so appetizing and it was soooo good. - Hookah Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

A great place to go with friends for a night of hookah. The flavors of hookah are plentiful and they also have some good food options. I would not recommend taking a seat in the back room unless you are an avid cigarette smoker or you are invited to a party. The music back there is really loud and the waiters seem to only stop by once in a while. read more

Alibaba is probably one of my favorite hookah places in Chicago. They have fast service, good hookah and actually pretty good food too. The place is quite spacious which is something you can't say about a lot of hookah cafes. The staff is also really kind and they never give you any trouble in splitting the bill, another thing I can't say about a lot of other places. I'm here quite often and I've never had any complaints. read more

Hanging out with one of my buddies about to have me a cocktail and a blue mist hookah. Very friendly and professional service. Flat screen tva with dim setting and comfortable seating. Definitely a nice place to blow some steam and smoke. read more

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Then food is not the best, but the service is nice and friendly. It's a quiet place with easy street parking. The vegetarian dish was great. Avoid the chicken shawarma as it's so greasy. read more

This hookah bar has been my "2nd home" for the past 2 years. I love this place because it's not too noisy and the atmosphere is nice. I generally just like to chill with some friends and at times play cards and this place is definitely my favorite hookah lounge. The chairs are comfortable and the setting is perfect! I usually go to the back room because they have more modern songs (rap, hip-hop, pop, etc) and all. Since I go here often I basically have no problem with the waitresses here. The one thing that sucks is that you have to pay in cash but other than that I love this place! :) read more

The Hookah is trash here it taste so horrible !! I thought it was bc the hose may have been dirty so I asked for another hose one of the disposable ones and it still tasted bad. Bathrooms are so dirty too but not surprised the whole place just looks and feels old and dirty. The music is lame we asked other people if they mind if we ask to change the music they said sure no problem . We ask the server if they can change the music and then this guy carrying a sword comes in says they don't play hip hop ! We didn't even get to ask for a song so where the hell do you get off assuming that's what we wanted to listen to?!! we don't want to listen to Justin Bieber and Jonas brothers all night. Also People smoke cigarettes in here right in front of the servers and management and they don't say anything about it but came to our table to accuse my group of smoking marijuana. Service sucked from the minute we came in to the minute we left. read more

I was in Chicago for a few days and was looking for a hookah bar that opened early and served food. This place was perfect. The food is delicious and they make a good pipe. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to get a fruit bowl and it was great. The staff is very friendly. I would definitely recommend this place. I especially liked that the music was mellow and it was not too busy for so early. It was great to be able to do my own thing and not be surrounded by people. read more

Horrible service and hookah! Nice place but they need to step up their hookah game. Head was burnt to a crisp as soon as they brought it.

The food has been okay, sometimes it was great sometimes it was inedible, the staff is very nice! The hookahs are a hit and miss depending of who packed it! But it's great most of the time. Overall it's still a nice place. read more

I have beeen going to Alibaba for years now. I LOVE this place. Relaxed athmosphere. Food: I have tried hummus everywhere I go, but Alibaba's is the best. As for the rest, I have eaten few other items and they are pretty good. Service: this will usually drive you crazy. VERY slow. The waitresses are nice, but I have never ever had a slower service in my life (this goes for all the million times I have visited). Regardless of service, you can't beat the ambient though. I highly recommend for everyone that wants to hang with friends, even bring you laptop and get some work done (free wi-fi) read more

Decent enough place... Nice staff , the ambience can be a little better and the lighting a little dim. Overall an ok place. read more

Ali Baba Cafe & Restaurant - Hookah Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Love the atmosphere. Nakhla double Apple hookah is great. Chill out place. Fast wifi. I've been to many hookah places all around Chicago and so far this is my favorite. Nice and not loud Arabic music I just wish if the service was a little bit faster. read more

I've tried to find an amazing hookah place and I finally found it. Not only are the hookahs super clean, but you can tell all the flavors are fresh. Awesome service, great food, and very nice atmosphere. The food is pretty good too. I recommend the chicken wrap! If your new to the city, or have been for a while, stop on by:-) read more

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My first time at a Hookah bar and I liked it!! Great place to go on a date! The food was okay . Taste the same as bar food. So it suit the establishment. We were a little confused on what the flavors were and which ones where the favorite,we also did not get any help with our selection. I really do not see the purpose of blowing flavored smoke but it was something new. Now what I did like was they allow BYOB but then they charge you $10 I wish they would have stated that we when arrived but being in Chicago I expect to spend a decent amount. So I was prepared. The place is so CHILL....I also would reccommend to go in the back room the lights are dimmed and they have a mixture of all music videos playing.You can also play cards with your guest . So I would say If you wanna get out of the house but do not want to go the club just chill and listen to music ,socialize, and have a few drinks..This is the place to go! With 3 appetizers the hookah and the BYOB we only spent $46 alot cheaper than going to the club. read more

I've been here three times. Last night was the last straw. I feel like an Alien every time I come through here, the staring is vicious. It's not like a stare where you walk in somewhere, and people are acknowledging someone is here. It's a stare where people keep their eyes on you, and then decide to discuss you amongst their friends at their table. Why? Why would anyone stare, and talk about people who are coming to do the same exact thing as they are? Eat, drink, and smoke Hookah. The staff. I don't think I'm going to express the disappointment. There was no staff service, I had to walk to the counter, and ask for service only AFTER, she finished her conversation in her native European language. I gave this place three trials. The only good thing I found from this place was the nice, attractive, well manored coal replacement man. I will no longer spend my money here. read more

Ugh I am so over this place, crappy hookah the last few times I have been there, so I refusing to go back! I don't think they have cleaned their hookahs since I wrote my original review. And I am tired of their high prices, no refills or even water....if you want a better place nearby go to Hubble HookaH! read more

When I started to smoke hookah this was one of the original spots I used to go to. This was around 10 years ago, when I was under 18 and they didn't card you. This along with Neffertitis, were the spots. Nefertitis is now closed, but this spots still around and seems like its doing well for itself. The place has changed in appearance over the years. They upgraded the chairs, have granite tables, nicely painted walls that's perfect for the environment. When you come in here you really do feel a Mediterranean vibe, this is what I think a hookah bar should look like. They serve more food now, heard its ok but I don't really eat at hookah places. But the hookah is usually on point. They use the cubed coals with seem to have less of a char taste. The hookah usually hits well, and is pretty strong. To go along with the dozens of cigarette smokers in the place, this place gets pretty smoky. Almost too smoky. Which is my biggest issue. Ventilation has always been a problem here, and I have even had some friends feel very uncomfortable due to it, to the extent of almost passing out. Casual smokers will prob have to step out for fresh air if you stay for a long time. But other then that, this is as authentic of a hookah place you can get, and that may be a reason why its continues to do so well. Its not gimmicky flashy, or tries to be something it isn't like all the new hookah spots, its a legit hookah spot for real hookah smokers! read more

Ali Baba Cafe & Restaurant - Hookah Bars Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I love this place!...I am a regular...very diverse crowd...very cozy...byob...great food...good looking crowd...best part of all, the owner has pay per view shows all the time...I watch the UFC fights all the time. read more

I use to go here a lot and I recently went there. I forgot how comfortable the seating is, or I just finally realized how uncomfortable it was after getting some very bad hookah. We ordered Blue Mist and Orange and the hookah was not hitting. We asked for them to check it out, the guy came, ashes the charcoal put them back on and smoke a few times, barely for anything and just gave it back to us like it was fine. Either he has never had a good bowl in his life or he was just trying to insult us. We immediately just paid and left and went to another hookah bar. Really bad experience. read more

This place sucks. The worst customer service I have ever experienced at a hookah bar. All these waitresses that speak in a foreign language so you don't understand what they're saying about you. This one blonde waitress is perhaps the worst waitress I've come across. She has an incredible amount of attitude and acts like we should be grateful she is serving us. They always make excuses for not being able to accept multiple cards. They always delay the order. They always refuse to provide quality customer service. I come to Chicago once a quarter and my friend always takes us here. I promise to never come back. Uglys has terrible decor but their hookah and service is so much better. Highly recommend Ugly's over Ali Babas. read more

I love it here. The hookah is good and well priced. 13 dollars for regular flavors and 16 for special flavors. I had the sweet melon and it was awesome. Hookah came and checked on us regularly. And they use the wood coals which is better for the argeelah ( hookah ) we sat in the front room cause the back room was filled with rowdy people. We also got the tiramisu which was good. Awesome authentic environment with your typical old arab men playing cards and backgammon. Always love coming here , staff is always super friendly too! read more

This was actually my first hookah bar I have ever been to and I had really good customer service. But then like a couple months pass and I come back and a woman over charged me, she never came to check up on how everything was going. It was hard to get her attention unless I actually got up. I use to tell friends to go here but that's all changed, after explaining my story. None of my friends will go now. Now we go to other locations instead. read more

Pretty cool spot, BYOB comes with a $5/person fee but totally worth it if you're going to be there for a while. They have a pretty nice food menu. The Pina colada hookah was fantastic! Plus they're open till 4am! read more

So listen to what they've done to regular customers of over 7 years An employee hit our car and RAN then called the police on us. My friends and I went in 4 of us guys hookah spent a ton of money shares two bottles of wine between the 4 us. Overall regular experience. When we go outside there is a car pressed and parked against my friends car. Even though they're was incredible amounts of space for the parking. It's chicago it happens but could've moved up off the bumper. W go in to ask politely can you figure out who's car this is so we can get our car out. We weren't angry. Waitresses start speaking they're language. Freaking out pretend to ask around keep looking out the window saying what car what car only minutes after we go look the car is gone. At that point we realize it was one of them. We go outside light a cigarette because we see the car a purple Malibu trying to hide in the dunkin donuts. Then a cop car comes and blocks my friends car in. We know they must've called the police and can assume they're on the pay roll because inderage drinkers and smoker and in the history of Chicago police don't show up that fast. They did a hit and run and then called police on us !!! We're not drink or tipsy but fear that they told them we were because the wine. We could t get in our car now. We walk to a starbucks wait for friends to come pick up the car they had two more cop cars follow us everywhere we talked and two under cover foot. Following is and all we did was ask politely for a car to be moved so we can get out. This was almost a 2 hour ordeal. They never even inspected the car that hit us and ran and were harassing is and protecting them. read more

Don't bother going here. The service here is extremely lame, they charged us $3 per person to drink the wine we brought - out of plastic, cracked cups... lame. Let me repeat, the service at this restaurant is horrible the worst part is they put 15% gratuity automatically on the bill and we were a party of 4. Go here to smoke a hookah maybe, but forget about ordering any food only because of the service, the kaftah kabob is good but does not make up for the service. Go to Noon-O Kabob instead. read more

This is me and my friends favorite place to go hookah. The food is great and so is the service, the music is great, and there's great vibes all around. If you're looking for a place with good vibes, good food, great music, and good hookah, then this is the place to go :) read more

This place is great for late nights, and they serve hookah till 3:30 am. They generally carry house brands, Al Fakhar, and Starbuzz. The hookah is decent, and moderately priced. Besides the hookah, they also have Arabic fast food like shawarma, and a couple entrees. The service is decent as well , they come check on your coals and ensure you're enjoying you session. I would love to see if this place carried more shisha brands, probably the biggest one being Fumari. Overall I would return. read more

I am only giving this place 3 stars because of the decor. I like the nice furniture and the hookah is better than average. But I am taking 2 stars off for the staff that has no sense of customer service and the crowd that is mostly middle eastern people. Their menu is alright but the food was not that great and took an hour to arrive. read more

It seems like there was an error and now there are 2 Ali baba hookah bars on yelp. Nevertheless, the gem of this place is the food they make and the juices they provide! Try both to be mesmerized by this little unique spot on Lawrence! read more

I tried calling to get a carry out order--They won't take phone orders--You have to go there and wait 20-30 min...Not sure why they do this but for that reason they have lost my business!! I don't know who wants to wait that long to pick up a food order--To many good middle eastern restaurants around who do take phone orders!! read more

the service is sometimes slow, but the fatoush salad is ahhhhhhmazing!! and i know one of the servers the one married to the owner and the one coal guy ahmed..so they're what really keep me commin back! :) read more

This place isn't anything great and quite disappointing. When I think Hooka bar I think lots of couches or even pillows on the floor for congregation. This place had uncomfortable chairs which resemble that of a hospital waiting room. The couches, which we snagged immediately walking in, were at least comfortable, however, the cleanliness of them leaves a disturbing thought in my head. My friend and I got a hooka with apple tabaco which tasted more like licorice... odd, yes. The other oddity was that they only brought us a hooka with one hitter (I dunno the actual terminolgoy of it) instead of two. I had to keep placing and removing my mouth guard so as to not share germs with my friend. I would have loved a glass of wine or a beer to sip with the hooka but they didn't offer alcohol which was definately a bummer. I'm not sure if it's a BYOB establishment - if I find out that it is I will give this place a second chance. However, they did have cappacinos and other beverages like soda and I believe some foreign drinks. I"m not brave enough to try those so I'll have to wait to review that until a brave or familiar friend goes with me LOL. The other annoyance I had was with a group of 4 men who were playing rummy and getting so worked up that they sounded as if they'd get in a fist fight. Granted I laughed at the time but that was merely to not look annoyed and risk getting yelled at myself. The staff did nothing to settle the men down out of respect for the other patrons. I probably will never go back to this place - unless, again, I find out that it's BYOB. It didn't wow me and some aspects of the establishment simply disturbed me. read more

Great place, the hookah is superb and the cappuccino is great.

Ali Baba is the best place to be a regular. The environment is not some imitation of middle eastern aesthetic, it is actually a lovely middle eastern place. At this point when I go, my hookah order is placed without me having to order because the employees know (lemon mint every time). Everyone who works there is genuinely interesting and caring, and even if I go by myself, I know I'll be in good company. If you go in on a weekend night, it will be packed. This is because it's a go to spot, a hidden gem. If you're looking for robotic speed coal change and service, this is not for you. This is not the fast food of hookah lounges. This is a place to spend 5 hours, forget time all together, try the hummus, the falafel, even the mozzarella sticks are gold, bring your closest friends or your new acquaintances, play some card games, talk about anything and everything. I will live and die swearing by this establishment, I wouldn't change a single thing about it if I could. read more

I really liked this spot. It's open til 5am and they have good food. Loved the hummus!

The go to late night hookah, you walk in and hear many languages spoken because it's good and authentic. Have been coming here for ten years and never been disappointed. read more

I've been in this place a few times on different occasions. This place knows nothing about making great hookah. Their hookahs are too old, usually overfilled with water or come with worn hoses. Their service is not too bad except for that they depend on "beautiful" eastern european girl who aren't well trained, unfriendly, and the only reason for them to be there is to attract customers. I think this place CAN be much better with some extra work. read more

Hookah is okay. Service is slow and terrible. Very loud. No space... Not comfortable sitting next to other strangers.